A Princess Among Dragons
by Fire-Shark
Summary: This is a crossover between the Malloreon and The Enchanted Forest. Ce'Nedra makes a frivolous wish, and ends up in the Mountains of Morning. There she is recruited by the dragon met in book 4 of the Enchanted Forest to become Kazul's princess.
1. Chapter 1

This is a sort of random crossover between The Malloreon (or after the Malloreon, I guess) and The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. I don't know if this idea will work out when I get farther into it, or even if people will read it. It's worth a try however, and I would appreciate reviews to tell me how I'm doing or if you liked the story at all. I do not own The Malloreon/Belgariad or The Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

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Ce'Nedra, Imperial Princess of Tol Honeth, Queen of Riva, wife to the Overlord of the West, was bored. She had been perfectly happy to live a normal, non-adventurous life after getting her son back from Zandramas, that previous and final Child of Dark. Besides which, raising so many children at one time had been an adventure in itself. But now all her children were of the age where they were not interested in getting into trouble (well, sort of. Geran somehow always managed to find trouble, even though he was a grown man and married.), and she had not been pregnant for some time. Oh, it wasn't that she couldn't have gotten pregnant; it was just that she and her husband had decided to give the whole children-raising thing a rest, which had been a great relief the first few years. Now, however, that lack of things to do was getting on Ce'Nedra's nerves.

This week had been especially dull. The Alorn council had dispersed the week before, leaving the castle dull and empty. Ce'Nedra's husband, Belgarion, seemed perpetually locked in a room pouring over the tedious details that came with a kingdom and throne. Ce'Nedra glanced outside and sighed. It was also raining.

Since there didn't seem to be anything else to do, the tiny queen decided to curl up in front of the fire with a cup of hot tea and a good book. She had just gotten settled with a book of fairytales (which were much more exciting than her own life) when she saw a flicker of blue out of the corner of her eye. Startled, she turned to look at it. The sword of the Rivan King, the Orb of Aldur pulsating an azure blue light, stood propped against one wall. She stared at it for a moment. How very like her husband. What was quite easily the most important object in the world, and he leaves it laying around.

"So he left you here too, did he?" She asked the stone, which seemed to flicker slightly in response. "Well, I hope you're having more fun than I am." She turned back to her book. After reading a sickening story of brainless princess being rescued from dragons by a brave knight, she closed the book.

"Where on earth do people come up with the idea that all princesses are ridiculous air-heads in need of saving? At least they're lives are more exciting than mine." She sighed. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "I wish I were on an adventure right now." She said half-heartedly. It was then that she discovered the full extent of the power of the Orb of Aldur.

She felt a powerful tug, then a lurch as if the world had just been wrenched out place. For one alarming moment, she thought of the accident that had split the universe. For a minute, everything was dark. Then, a faint light filled her eyes, growing gradually larger. Then she heard a startled yelp from someone nearby.

"Where did you come from?" It asked in surprise. Then, "are you a princess?"

It took Ce'Nedra a moment to identify the speaker. As she turned in order to confront the voice that had so suddenly entered her chambers, she found, standing before her and regarding her curiously, a dragon. At least, she thought it was a dragon. It looked like the representations in the fairytale book, but not what a real dragon looked like. She, of course, knew about dragons (or the dragon, as only one was alive when she had confronted it) first hand. It was then that she first noticed her surroundings. Instead of being in her comfortable rooms in the fortress in Riva, she was seated on a cushiony bed of moss outside a cave. The cave was situated in the side of a very large mountain, and there were quite a number of cave openings in the face of it, situated to the sides of the one she sat before. She stared around in bewilderment.

"Ah-HEM." The dragon said loudly. Ce'Nedra jumped, having completely forgetting it was there. Not the best thing to do around a dragon, she chided herself. "I _said_, are you a princess?"

Ce'Nedra spoke without even thinking about the consequences. Too many years with the titles had drilled them into her. "I am the Imperial Princess of Tol Honeth, the jewel of the Empire, the flower of Tolnedra. I am also the Queen of Riva, wife of His Majesty, King Belgarion, Godslayer and Overlord of the West."

"Oh," said the dragon, sounding dubious. "That's all really very impressive. You said were a queen?"

"Yes," replied Ce'Nedra uncertainly. Hadn't the creature been listening? She had said she was a queen numerous times.

"Oh." It said again. Then it considered. "But you were a princess before becoming a queen, right?"

"Yes," she said hesitantly. "In a way."

"Oh good," it said. "I wasn't sure what the rules are regarding queens, but as long as you were a princess, that should cover the formalities. Oh, Kazul will be so pleased. She was looking for a princess, you understand. Ever since Daystar rescued his father, Cimorene has had too many responsibilities, and never had time to come make chocolate mousse like she promised."

"What?" Said Ce'Nedra, utterly baffled.

"Cimorene." The dragon prompted. "She was Kazul's princess, before. But that was twenty years ago, and now Kazul needs a new one."

Ce'Nedra had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "And just who is Kazul?"

"Why, the King, of course!" The dragon said, obviously expecting her to understand.

"The king of what?" Ce'Nedra asked.

"The King of Dragons, naturally! Now come along, she'll be wanting to meet you and put you to work right away!"

"Work? Wait, why does the King of Dragons want a princess? Wait, did you say _she_?" Ce'Nedra asked incredulously.

"Of course I said she! Kazul's my grandmother. Why wouldn't she be a she? And she needs a princess to do domestic chores for her. Cooking, and cleaning her scales and whatnot. Hurry up."

"So I'm to be a maid for a dragon?!" She shrieked in outrage.

"Of course not. You're going to be her _princess_." The dragon was rapidly losing patience, and began walking off down the trail.

After considering her situation for a moment, Ce'Nedra decided she did not want to be alone on a strange mountain in a land inhabited by dragons. Thinking that her morning had gone terribly awry, she hurried to catch up to the dragon.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the second chapter. It's a bit short, but I'm stuck and I feel bad because I haven't posted since last year sometime. Sorry for anyone who wanted this to come out sooner. I'll try to work on it more after this coming week, since I'll be busy with finals. After finals I should have time though. I don't own any of the characters or settings in this.

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Ce'Nedra followed the dragon into a large cavern at the top of the mountain. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the dim light inside the cave. What she saw when they did caught her breath.

Before her was a large dragon, lounging on the floor and watching the one that had led her there with amusement.

"King Kazul, I found you a princess!" It said excitedly, waddling forward. "See, she's a queen, but she was a princess before she was a queen, so she can be your princess, right?"

Kazul turned her gaze to Ce'Nedra, who shrunk back from the enormity of the beast.

"You are a princess, eh? From what country?"

"Um…Tolnedra, and I'm the Queen of Riva." Ce'Nedra said, very confused by this sudden turn of events.

The dragon blinked. "Tolnedra? Where's that?"

"It's…well…uh…" For the first time in her life, Ce'Nedra was at a loss for words.

"Oh, no matter. Now, can you cook chocolate mousse? Or maybe cherries jubilee?" The dragon brushed her hesitation aside.

"I…have never tried," Ce'Nedra replied, deciding not to tell the dragon that those things didn't exist in her world.

"Oh, well, it's easy. I'll find you the recipe and you can get to work. So, what brings you here? Most princesses run away because they want their knight or prince to prove his love by defeating a dragon. A few, like Cimmorene, run away to escape the tedious duties of being a princess."

"Oh…I think I'm here because I wanted adventure."

"You think?" Ce'Nedra could have sworn that Kazul smiled.

"I…I know. I'm here because I wanted some more adventure in my life." Ce'Nedra may have seemed a bit flighty at times, but she was not stupid. She could tell that the Orb had granted her wish, and had transported her to this world to give her some more adventure.

"Alright. Well, you may not get much excitement, per say, but I think life will at least be different for you here. Now then, let me show you around." Kazul got up off of the floor, and turned her stern gaze onto the young dragon. "And you will stop exploring around and will get out from underfoot." With that, she led the way down the hallway, with Ce'Nedra scurrying to keep up.

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"Um…if you don't mind my asking, why exactly do you need a princess to do things for you? And why not a commoner or a serf? I'm sure many serfs would like to be a dragon's princess." Ce'Nedra asked Kazul, practically running to keep up as the large dragon showed her around the extensive cave system.

"Why would a dragon want a mere commoner? Do you have any idea how that would tarnish our reputations? And why would I want surf to help me? Waves can't make cherries jubilee, you know."

"Oh," Ce'Nedra said hesitantly. "A serf…is like a peasant. They work and pay tithe to their landlords in exchange for protection."

"What?" Kazul asked, turning to face Ce'Nedra. She jumped back as the dragon moved her great bulk.

"Never mind," she murmured. Obviously serfs were foreign in this strange land.

"Humph. Anyway, these will be your quarters." Kazul gestured to a cavernous opening with her snout as she said this. Ce'Nedra approached the opening cautiously and peered into the room beyond. There were all the amenities a human female might need, all in proportion to her species. She turned back to the dragon.

"You'll be settled in in no time, don't you worry. Now then, I'll give you time to clean up, and then we can see about making dessert."


End file.
